Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.4%, acquiring an additional 778,095 shares, bringing their total holdings to 7,599,510 shares valued at approximately $468.97 million.
• Cisco reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.96, exceeding estimates by $0.04, with revenues of $14.15 billion, reflecting an 11.4% year-over-year growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, which was paid on July 23rd, providing a 2.4% dividend yield to shareholders.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 11.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,599,510 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 778,095 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of Cisco Systems worth $468,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 388,949,854 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $24,002,095,000 after buying an additional 1,865,648 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,796,505,000 after acquiring an additional 4,832,813 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 46,973,293 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,898,722,000 after acquiring an additional 12,775,066 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,159,099,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,741,597,000 after acquiring an additional 681,555 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,389,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,692,797. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $72.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $284.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.03.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $154,072.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,331,498.27. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total transaction of $1,027,222.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 309,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,281,257.36. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, May 16th. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.55.

Cisco Systems Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.